JEFFERSONVILLE — Unless the Indiana Court of Appeals sees things Clark County’s way, it looks like the county will pay an $865,000 judgment for 72 acres of land acquired by the Board of Aviation Commissioners through eminent domain last year.

County Attorney Greg Fifer sought and got approval from the Clark County Commissioners for a settlement agreement with land owner Margaret Dreyer at the board’s regular meeting on Thursday, and the Clark County Council will hold a special meeting on Thursday to give its stamp of approval. The air board needed the land to complete a runway-expansion project at the Clark County Regional Airport.

“I see it as a necessity, given the situation that we’re in,” Fifer told the News and Tribune in a phone interview on Friday. “The BOAC has obtained several million dollars in grant funds to do this airport runway expansion, and is in the middle of that project. And without this property, they wouldn’t be able finish that project and we would be subject to having to pay back several million dollars to the FAA. So that’s not a viable option. We’ve got to acquire this property and let the chips fall where they fall after the fact.”

Under the settlement agreement negotiated between Fifer, council attorney Scott Lewis and Dreyer attorney John Mead, the county will have 45 days after the entry of the settlement to notify Dreyer of the means by which it intends to pay her for the land. Dreyer, in exchange, waives her right to any claim of forfeiture of the property, so long as the county is raising funds to pay for it.

All told, the county owes $661,395 plus $162,648 in accrued interest on the eminent domain judgment and $24,036 plus $3,018 in accrued interest on the judgment of attorney’s fees, costs and expenses. The money owed is accruing interest at the rate of $150 per day.

“I know that the BOAC is working on trying to find additional FAA monies to help solve this problem, which would be great,” Fifer said. “But if not, the reality is that the county just has to deal with this. So we need to cut that $150 interest clock off as soon as we can.”

If the settlement agreement is approved by the county council and Judge Jerry Jacobi, the settlement would go back to the council to be included with the 2013 budget.

“The [Department of Local Government Finance] should then, in our final budget order, approve a tax rate to pay that judgment,” Fifer explained. “... If additional FAA monies are approved between now and then, whatever they get would have the effect of reducing that tax rate.”

The air board has applied for grant money through the FAA for a variety of projects relating to the airport runway expansion, and has submitted a request for grant money to pay for a large portion of the Dreyer judgment. If approved, the county’s match for a $1.229 million grant for land acquisition would be $92,230.

But Fifer is hopeful that an appeal of the original eminent domain judgment goes his way. Fifer said when the case originally went to trial, the court should have independently inquired whether or not Dreyer filed a timely exception to the appraiser’s report. The second appraisal resulted in the judgment against the county.

“If I win the appeal, then we don’t owe the $851,000 balance today,” Fifer said. “It would go back to $203,605. I think it’s worth finding that answer out, because there’s no clear-cut law. Although I like  — I’m optimistic based on the balance of the law that I’ve found that I think is favorable to our position. So I’m going to go ahead and pursue that appeal, but I think we need to be doing a dual-track strategy where if the appeal doesn’t work, then we’re in a position to pay her at the earliest possible date.”

The settlement agreement gives the county the right to set aside the funds until the appeal is resolved.